MPUSD expands transitional kindergarten program

UPDATED: 2/26/16 6:25 PM: More kids on the Monterey Peninsula will be getting access to public education at a young age. This week Monterey Peninsula Unified School District said it’s expanding the age eligibility for students enrolling in Transitional Kindergarten or “TK”. The district said it’s the first in the county to set the standard across the board, not on a case by case basis. Not only will more kids be able to get a head start on their public education at a young age, but another plus is that parents won’t have to fork out thousands of dollars to send their kids to a private preschool.

All students in TK at Highland Elementary in Seaside are 5 years old, and they’re able to be in the program because they turned 5 years-old by the December 2 cut off. The age requirement is soon changing for MPUSD.

“We were hopeful that more students could receive the benefit of transitional kindergarten it was such a small window of students that were able to be here. So it was just a three month window,” said Transitional Kindergarten teacher, Holly McKrill.

MPUSD pushed the 5 year-old requirement in December out to March. The new rule is expected to give at least sixty 4 year-olds the chance to enroll next year. Right now, there’s a 20 to 1 student to teacher ratio. The ratio is not expected to change, but the district said next year they will be adding the TK program to 11 of its 12 elementary schools.

“The benefits are amazing, you know they are here on campus the same campus they are going to be in kindergarten. They get familiar with the teachers, the routines the procedures,” said McKrill.

The TK students also learn about books, and age appropriate math concepts. An education some parents said they’d otherwise have to pay for through a private preschool.

“I had a son too and I was looking for preschool, some of them told us that you have to pay and you know some parents can’t afford to pay, not everybody is rich we have middle class families too,” said Highland Elementary parent, Joshni Sing.

All districts on the Central Coast offer TK programs, but Santa Cruz County School Districts said it’s sticking with the current December cut off, unless they have space in the classroom. If you are interested in the TK program, districts are taking sign-ups until the start of the next school year, but warn parents not to wait, because they expect a long waitlist.

The district also says studies show students who start early on often find more success, pointing to a report available here.